We heard robust debate from the community on the decision to change library opening days, and in particular the decision to not open Featherston library on Saturdays. This decision came about as a result of the Annual Plan resolutions and deliberations process following public consultation, but we realise not everyone would be aware of these decisions and their full impact.

The Council chose to schedule fixed days for when each library will be open rather than close on an ad-hoc basis that library-users expressed was inconvenient. We accept that communications on the changes to our library hours could have been better for the level of community interest in these services.

As a result of your interest, we have made the call to review the library scheduling sooner than planned and will come back to the community with options before the end of July. Between 3 July and 16 July 2023 we received feedback from 144 members of the community.

For transparency we have published the feedback of those who have provided consent for us to do so. A summary of the feedback received can be found here.